Start of a big day in Auckland

 We have a lot planned for today.  We started out with a quick walk to find a snack for breakfast. Right outside the wharf area there is a nice little shop staffed by two ladies from Bogota Columbia of all places. We got a great egg and bacon sandwich and walked over by the ferry building.  Then we strolled around downtown a bit. There is a huge amount of construction both infrastructure and new buildings. We found a taxi and took it up to you the War Memorial. The War Memorial is part memorial to the war dead, part Natural History Museum, part art museum. We were lucky to have the Toronto's children choir there to serenade us during a visit. They are in an extensive trip with 51 concerts in total. What most interested us was the handiwork of the South Pacific islanders. The Maori from New Zealand and other islanders including Fiji, Papua New Guinea and others were all represented. The building itself was impressive with very nice glass work and expansive architecture. They had a special showing on purses. They had purses from the Roman times to modern times.

The iconic Old Ferry building

As you can see it was a glorious lovely day

The entrance to the war memorial

I can understand his giant feet

The Toronto children's chorus

A large area was devoted to the boats and perils of the Pacific islanders

They had a great display of birds in flight so you can see their plumage

The Kaja is going down, mayday, mayday

All the birds in this display are fully extended with their wings

Propellers from the war memorial side

Very fine glass work

Not a guy you want to mess with

Totems from the Maori

An imposing mask

A kiwi

A carved canoe front

A gigantic fossil of a Nautilus

Behind Leslie in the case is a Moa. The largest bird ever found in New Zealand. It's egg is the largest egg ever found but the smallest in proportion to it's body size

More varieties of Kiwis. The Kiwis egg is the largest in proportion to it's body size

I have never heard of a bronze whaler shark before

Am I getting smaller or is this one gigantic penguin

This figurine is made out of New Zealand greenstone

This is an iconic style of a human figurine. These can be handed down through families from the wisest one to the wisest one

Impressive headdresses from Papua New Guinea

I believe this headdress was from West Papua

The handle of an ornamental paddle

The shaft from the same paddle

A ceremonial Club

An actual Polynesian canal for ocean-going voyages

Elaborate necklaces

Part of a decorative piece that goes to the entryway to a building

Since word on the islands were scarce whatever pieces they got were fitted exactly and then sewn together with plant fibres to make the entire canoe

The decoration on a ceremonial workin Il. It could have 100 Warriors on it at a time

 Another ornamental piece to the entryway of a ceremonial building

Maori ceremonial figurines

The ceiling of the nain exhibition Hall

This is an actual ceremonial building that was reconstructed inside the museum

We had to take her shoes off, show respect while inside and no photographs were allowed on the inside

This is a Japanese jewellery holder / purse from the 1800s

Elaborate wood carvings of birds

It's one of our Easter Island buddies

Frog man?